Bed rail



H. D. GOLDBERG 2,979,738

BED RAIL Filed July 2, 1958 INVENTOR. HAROLD D. GOLDBERG OMtLMH. $114.1;

ATTORNEY United States Patent BED RAIL Harold D. Goldberg, so Johns Road, Cheltenham, Pa.

' Filed July z, 1958, Ser. No. 746,239

7 Claims. (c1. -331 This invention relates to the construction of a detachable bed rail which is also vertically adjustable.

The detachable bed rails heretofore available have many disadvantages. Such bed rails have their greatest use in hospitals or the like where it often becomes necessary to put sides on the bed to prevent a patient from accidentally falling from the bed. However, the bed rails heretofore used merely clamped to either the head and foot boards of the bed or to the interconnecting side rail in-the single position above the side rail so as to enclose thepatient. Thus, when it became necessary to treat the patient or remove him from the bed, it was necessary to either lean over the bed rail, which is cumbersome, or more often' to remove the bed rail from the bed. Since such bed rails are heavy and usually diflicult to detach, it was usually necessary to call in an orderly to remove the rail and then reattach it after the patient was cared for. Thus, not only are such bed rails difficult to use, but cause much waste of time by the personnel of the hospitals.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a detachable bed rail which can be easily attached to and detached from the bed. It is another object of this invention to provide a detachable bed rail which is vertically adjustable. It is still another object of this invention to provide a detachable bed rail which can be easily and quickly changed between a lowered position and a raised position. It is a further object of this invention to provide a vertically adjustable bed rail which can be easily attached to or removed from the bed. Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts, which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation view of a hospital bed having the bed rail of this invention attached thereto;

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the portion of the bed and bed rail enclosed in circle 3 in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the portion of the bed and bed rail enclosed in circle 4 in Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5-5 of Figure 4; and

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6-6 of Figure 5, except that the depending members of the lock pin are shown urged together.

Referring to Figure l of the drawing, the bed, which in itself forms no part of this invention, comprises in general a foot board or frame 10, a head board or frame 12 and side rails 14 connecting foot board to head 2,979,738 Patented Apr. 18, 1961 board 12. Bed spring 16 is supported on the side rails 14 in the usual manner. The bed rail of this invention comprises, in general, a vertical guide post 18 attached to side rail 14 adjacent foot board 10 by means of a bracket 20. A second vertical guide post 22 has a bracket generally indicated by 24, intermediate its ends supporting it on side rail 14 and is secured adjacent its ends to head board 12 by clamps 26 and 26. A substantially rectangular side frame 28 is vertically supported between guide posts 18 and 22 and is slidable vertically along the guide posts between a raised position, as shown, and a lowered position, as indicated in dotted lines. Side frame 28 is made up of a lower horizontal bar 30, an upper horizontal bar 32 and vertical end bars 34 and 36 connecting the horizontal bars 30 and 32. Spaced intermediate horizontal bars 38 and 40 are connected between end bars 34 and 36.

Referring to Figure 3, which shows side rail 28 in an intermediate position to clearly show all the features of the bed rail, guide rail 22 is a tubular member having a longitudinal slot 22a therein which faces guide post 18. A fiat rib 42 is secured to guide post 22, such as by welding. and extends longitudinally along the post. Bracket 24 comprises a strut 24a welded to and extending hori zontally from rib 42 along side rail 14. A hook-shaped member 24/) is securedto the end of strut 24a and hooks over and rests on side rail 14. Lower horizontal bar prises a pair of opposed arcuate clamping members 26a each having an ear 26b extending along opposite sides of rib 42. A bolt 50 extends through aligned holes in cars 26b and rib 42 and a nut 52 is threaded on the end of bolt 50. Clamping members 26a extend around head board post 12a and are clamped thereto by tightening nut 52 to force ears 26b together against rib 42.

Referring to Figure 4 guide post 18 also comprises a tubular member having a longitudinal slot 18a, therein which faces guide post 22. Bracket 20 comprises a horizontal bar 54 secured to guide post 18, such as by welding, and having a hook-shaped member 56 at each end thereof. Additional bars 58 and 60 areconnected between end members 56 and 56. A pair of thumb screws 62 and 62 are threaded through bar 54. End member 56 and 56 rest on and is hooked around side rail 14. Thumb screws 62 and 62 are threaded in to engage side rail 14 and thereby lock 20 on the side rail.

-As can be seen in Figure 5, the lower bar 30 of side frame 28 is hollow. A guide bushing is secured in each end of lower bar 30. The guide bushing 64 serve as bearings for the lock pin 66, which comprises a pair of similar angle-shaped members, and the guide bushings 64 also serve as a means for guiding the side frame 28 along the guide posts 22 and 18, and along with enlarged head 48 retain the side frame 28 in operative engagement with guide posts 22 and 18. Each of the angle-shaped members comprises the element 68 which is received within bar 30 and normally projects therefrom and the element 70 which depends through slot 72 in the bottom Wall of bar 30.

The spring 74 urges the elements 68 of lock pin 66 away from each other. The guide posts 18 and 22 are provided with aligned holes 76 and 78 within which look pin 66 may be received, to releasably secure and support side frame 28 in its raised position. Guide posts 18 and 22 have similar aligned holes (not shown) adjacent their bottom ends into which lock pin 66 can project to support side frame 28 in its lowered position. To change the position of side frame 28 it is only necessary-to pull eles ments 70' together against the action of spring ,74 and away from the ends of the slot 72 (see Figure 6), so that the lock pin 66 is released from holes 76 and 78.

The side frame 28 can then be moved vertically along guide posts 18 and 22 to the other position where the lock pin 66 will snap into the aligned holes in guide posts 18 and 22 to maintain the position.

-It should be noted that guide post 18 is, preferably about one-half as tall as guide post 22 so that guide post 18 does not extend above the top of the side frame 28.

when the side frame is in its lowered position. Thus, when side frame 28 is in its lowered position there are no obstructions to interfere with the'handling of the patient. The bed rail is easily removed from the bed by merely loosening clamps 26 and the thumb screws 62 of bracket 20. Guide posts 18 and 22 are then lifted to clear brackets 20 and 24 from side rail 14 and the bed rail is off. To replace the bed rail on the bed the procedure is merely reversed. Once the bed rail is on the bed it does not have to be removed to tend to the patient but the side frame 28 can be easily and quickly raised or lowered in the manner previously. described.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained and, since certain changes may be made in the above construction without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting senset 'It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specificfeatur'es of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A bed rail comprising the combination of a tubular guide post having means for attaching it in a vertical position to a side rail of a bed adjacent the foot of the bed, a second tubular guide post having a longitudinally extending rib adapted .to be juxtaposed to a head of a bed, said rib having means for securing it in a vertical position to the head and the side rail of the bed, each of said guide posts having a longitudinal slot therein facing the other of said posts, a substantially rectangular side frame supported vertically between said guide posts, projections extending from the ends of said frames and fitting into the slots in said guide posts to slidably guide the frame along said posts between a lowered position and a raised position and means releasably securing said frame in each of said position, said first mentioned guide post being approximately one-half the length of said second guide post so that the projection on said frame is adjacent the uppermost end of said first mentioned guide post when said frame is in its raised position. 2. The combination as set forth in claim 1 in which the end of said frame adjacent said first guide post has one projection at the bottom-of said .end extending into the slot in said first guide post andthe other end of said frame has a pair of vertically spaced projections extend: ing into the slot in said second guide post.

3. The combination as set forth in claim 2 in which a v the means for releasably securing said frame at each of the positions comprises vertically spaced holes in one of ,15 said guide posts, a pair of pins, each pin a spring pressed pin projecting from the frame to releasably extend through said holes, and a spring between said pins biasing said pins in opposite directions.

4. The combination as set the spring is positioned within said frame, and said pins are adjacent one another.

5. The combination as set forth the means for attaching. said first guide post to the side rail of the bed comprises a hook-shaped bracket secured to said first post and adaptedsto hook over said rail and screw means extending through said bracket to engage a side surface of said side rail and clamp said rail against the hooked portion of the bracket.

6. The combination as set forth inclaim l'in which the means for securing said rib on said second post to the head of the bed'is a pair of spaced clamps, each of which comprises a pair of opposed arcuate members adaptedto grip the head of the bed and nut and boltmeans securing one end of each of the arcuate'members to said rib on said guide post and drawing said members together.

V 7. The combination as set forth in claim 6 in which the means for supporting said rib on second guide post on the side rail of the bed comprises a strut secured to and extending horizontally from said rib on second guide post and a hook-shaped member on said strut adapted to hook around and rest on said side rail. a

References Cited in the file of this patent V i UNITED STATES PAT TS Sweden Iuly-21, 1942 forth in claim 3 in which.

in claim in which 7 

